Enacting support—gestures and manipulatives—facilitates explanation quality and problem-solving, partly by adding strategies to verbal explanations¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Children generating correct gestures showed better mathematical-equivalence problem-solving than partial-gesture then no-gesture groups, mediated by verbalizing the grouping strategy (Goldin-Meadow et al., 2009, as reported). → Fiorella 2023 q2 i? When learners were prevented from gesturing while explaining a science text, they generated fewer inferences (Nathan & Martinez, 2015, Experiment 3, as reported). → Fiorella 2023 (2) q2 i? Third graders using concrete manipulatives produced more accurate strategies and higher-quality verbal justifications than pencil-and-paper peers; fifth graders did not benefit (Lafay et al., 2021, as reported). → Fiorella 2023 (3)

Evidence¶

Fiorella 2023¶

Fiorella, L. (2023). Making Sense of Generative Learning. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09769-7

q2 · i? · review · r3

Narrative review attributing this to Goldin-Meadow et al. (2009): children learned mathematical equivalence with correct, partially correct, or no gestures, then solved new problems and explained solutions. The review reports the effect was mediated by children verbalizing the 'grouping' strategy; no effect size printed.

"generating correct gestures led to better problem-solving performance than generating partial gestures, which was more effective than generating no gestures."

Fiorella 2023 (2)¶

Fiorella, L. (2023). Making Sense of Generative Learning. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09769-7

q2 · i? · review · r3

Narrative review attributing this to Nathan and Martinez (2015), three experiments with college students explaining a circulatory-system text. Experiment 1 found more gestures on inference questions; Experiment 2 found more gestures without illustrations; Experiment 3 is quoted. No effect size printed.

"Finally, Experiment 3 showed that when learners were prevented from making ges- tures while explaining, they generated fewer inferences."

Fiorella 2023 (3)¶

Fiorella, L. (2023). Making Sense of Generative Learning. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09769-7

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative review attributing this to Lafay et al. (2021): third and fifth graders solved part-whole and compare word problems with plastic chips or paper-and-pencil, then explained answers. The review reports the benefit held for third graders only; fifth graders did not benefit.

"students who used manipulatives used more accurate prob- lem-solving strategies and produced higher quality verbal justifications of their solu- tions than students who learned with pencil and paper."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Gestures and bodily actions lighten cognitive load and extend mathematical ideas across group members during collaboration — a broader claim this one bears on
• Observing gestures embedded in instruction aids learning, especially when gestures convey a different strategy than speech — related
• Gesturing during learning improves retention and reduces cognitive load — related
• Visualizing support—provided diagrams or learner-generated drawings—facilitates higher-quality explanations and better comprehension than explaining text alone — related
• Observing and producing gestures can enhance comprehension of verbal messages including narratives — related